Baader UV-IR Cut Filter - 50X50X3 Square Unmounted

Baader Planetarium has introduced the world's finest UV/IR cut filter. This filter is a must for all digital imaging with Digital Cameras, CCD Cameras, and modified WebCams. Also useful for protecting valuable H-Alpha filters from heat stress and damaging IR (Daystar, etc).

Due to their extremely high optical quality, these filters may be stacked and used far in front of the focal plane (necessary for imaging uses). Like the Baader Planetarium Contrast-Booster, the UV-IR-Cut filter uses the very latest coating technology, to deliver the finest filtration quality - and lifetime durability.

Baader Planetarium UV-IR Cut Filter Features...

True Optical Quality: Baader glass substrates are of true optical quality. Most other filters are merely made from raw flame-polished, "optically flat", or sometimes a top quality commercially polished filter glass (fine for camera filters), resulting in wavefront deformations that damage image sharpness and contrast when used with telescopes. Baader Planetarium filters are made from striae-free substrates, and actually fine optically polished flat to within 1/4 wave p-v over the entire surface, plane parallel to within 30 seconds of arc! This important and unique custom step adds cost - but the result is a filter that maintains the full wavefront quality of the telescope without double images or ghosting, even at high magnifications. Critical to maintaining this level of flatness are Baader's carefully balanced coating designs, which prevent coating surface stresses from warping the substrate. Such high flatness enables Baader filters to be used far in front of the focal plane, ahead of star diagonals and digital cameras. They are particularly well suited for attachment to the nosepiece of the Maxbright Binocular Viewer (other manufacturer's filters must be used in pairs, attached to the eyepieces).

Filter Durability: Filter durability has always been a hallmark of Baader Planetarium. The multi-layer dielectric coatings are plasma-assisted and Ionbeam-hardened using the latest technology (the coatings are harder than the glass substrate itself!). Baader filters withstand repeated real-world exposure to the elements and physical cleaning. Users need not leave their precious filters dull and dust encrusted to avoid cleaning - Baader filters may be used and cleaned without fear. We have heard sad stories from owners of other simpler soft-coated dielectric filters, who have seen their coatings degrade from normal exposure to moisture, or wiped away from routine cleaning. Some manufacturers even resort to sandwiching their delicate coatings in between two layers of glass (and risking blurred double images as well as eventual degradation from the edges inward). Baader Filters will truly last a lifetime.

Stackability: Unlike other filters, Baader Planetarium filters are truly designed to be stacked and combined. This is possible due to the high optical quality and highly efficient anti-reflection multicoatings. The ability to combine filters opens up many exciting possibilities, permitting unique spectral characteristics unachievable with any single filter.

Low cost: Despite high quality and advanced technology, Baader Planetarium filters are affordable. By leveraging high volumes across all filters in the Baader family, these filters can be offered at very reasonable prices.